FILM REVIEW
POWER BALLAD
Rated R
98 Minutes
Released June 5th
When you hear a great song on the radio, on someone’s playlist, or at a concert, you may be struck by the poetry of it. Maybe it awakens emotions, changes the way your day is going, or it may even change the trajectory of your life. But you don’t think of the song as a catalyst for transformation in the lives of its creators. Power Ballad is a compelling movie about the creation of a simple and touching song, how it affects the artists who wrote it, and what happens when you add to its recipe marketing, showmanship, publicity, and money.
Power Ballad is a sincere and honest study of how the music business works, told in story form. It’s a deep dive into the music business, a profession that can devour those who seek to make a living from it. As in-not every musician grows up with the guidance of parents like Taylor Swift’s. Music is a career often glued together by the polar opposites of artistry and highly developed business acumen.
In the film, Paul Rudd plays “Rick Power,” a singer-songwriter who has “settled” for family life, with a career as a wedding singer to make ends meet. At one of his gigs, he meets “Danny Wilson,” played by popular music star and actor Nick Jonas. Later that evening, post-wedding party, the two get together, have more than a few beers, bond over their music on an artistic level, and a song is born. This song propels the action of the film. Gary Clark, who co-wrote that song with director John Carney, was once in a band called “Danny Wilson,” hence the meaning underlying the name of Jonas’s character.
You may have seen the work of director Carney. He wrote and directed Sing Street, released in 2016, a film that has gained a cult following over the years. It’s also about musicians. His first film, Once, is a highly acclaimed love story about two street musicians, filmed on two camcorders in 3 weeks for a budget of $150,000. Carney himself was bassist and vocalist for an Irish band called The Frames from 1990-1993, so he has lived experience to offer to his characters. The star of his movie Once was The Frames front man, Glen Hansard. Carney is truly an artist whose medium is film.
Paul Rudd is an actor you may first remember seeing on TV’s Friends in the early 2000’s, or on Friends reruns, depending on your age. He played “Phoebe’s” love interest and eventual husband, a fan-favorite character. At that point, he had already been working on film and TV since 1992. You might muse that Rudd is perhaps an early form of AI, because his look has aged very little in the almost 35 years he’s been acting. Rudd is always working, and that is probably due not only to the fact that he’s a superb actor and fun to watch, but that he’s known as one of the nicest people in the business.
In Power Ballad, he plays a singer-songwriter-guitarist so convincingly that I thought he must have played in bands earlier in his life. Nope! Rudd notes, “I play guitar like actors play guitar, which is annoying.” Rudd did, however, put in his time learning the art of acting. He moved around a lot as a child due to his parents’ work, so he was constantly absorbing new places and personalities, always trying to fit in. He attended the University of Kansas, then the Academy of Dramatic Arts in West LA and a 3-month intensive at the British Academy in Oxford, UK. Rudd is completely convincing as frustrated singer-songwriter Rick in Power Ballad.
Nick Jonas, on the other hand, is a wildly popular musician who is honing his skills as an actor. He gained fame as a founding member of the boy band the Jonas Brothers alongside his brothers Joe and Kevin. He’s a multi-platinum Grammy-nominated artist, and he’s made albums both solo and with his brothers. Nick began performing children’s roles at the age of 7 on Broadway. He has appeared in the Jumanji franchise and other films, including Scream Queens. He was cast in Les Misérables in London’s West End and has hosted Saturday Night Live.
Being homeschooled allowed him to begin a successful career as a child, but his life was not always easy, as he was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at the age of 13. Nick married actress Priyanka Chopra in 2018; they have a 3-year-old daughter, and the couple devote time to the Children for Change Foundation and raise money for diabetes awareness among other causes.
Power Ballad is the story of a song and its surprising power to change the lives of those who created it and those who hear it. Carney was inspired to write and direct the story when he saw a man in the street one day carrying a guitar in one hand and his daughter on his other arm, taking her to school. He said that this image of a rocker hanging on to his dreams while dealing with the responsibilities of family became the inspiration for the story.
Kathryn Whitney Boole has spent most of her life in the entertainment industry, which has been the backdrop for remarkable adventures with extraordinary people. She is a Talent Manager with Studio Talent Group in Santa Monica. kboole@gmail.com
